happy new year!

Tomorrow is the first day of the Chinese New Year. As I type, the fireworks are booming and echoing across Hangzhou. They are sometimes so loud, they sound as if they are being set off right outside our window. In fact, just a few minutes ago, they were being set off right outside our window. It was a bit terrifying--the hostel staff was lighting them right next to the building, and right under a tree. They didn't seem to be paying much attention to how close anyone was standing, or which direction things were shooting. I had visions of everything I'd brought with me (which, admittedly, wasn't much) going up in flames. Now the scents of coal smoke, new year popcorn, and gunpowder are wafting through the entire building.

We spent our New Year's eve bicycling through the West Lake area of Hangzhou. This is a beautiful city, kind of a resort town, to tell the truth, known for it's beautiful lakeside scenery and gardens, as well as its preserved historical sites and artifacts. We climbed to the top of a pagoda this afternoon, visited beautiful gardens, and cycled down lakeside paths. If the chain hadn't been constantly falling off the back gear of my bike the whole way, it would have been an idyllic day.

When we came back to the hostel, the staff was preparing a New Year celebration. We all made dumplings together, then ate them, as well as the plates of oranges, nuts, seeds, candies and chocolates the staff brought out to us. And then there was popcorn. And more popcorn. Then fireworks and more popcorn.

We've had no problems at all getting tickets to anywhere we want to go, despite all the hype about how difficult travel is during Chinese New Year. Tomorrow we plan to take a short day-trip to a nearby town called Wuzhen. It's kind of like the Chinese version of historic Dodge City, set up to recapture a particular time in history. We're just hoping everything won't be closed down due to new year celebrations. Then on Tuesday we leave for a 21-hour long train ride to Guilin. It will be a good chance to catch up on some much-needed rest, I hope.

I tried for over an hour to post some pictures of our day up here, but no luck. Grrr. . . . I'll try to get some up soon.

In the meantime: Good luck and good health to you all this new year! Xin nian kuaile!